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Scaled Sons
The Scaled Sons are one of a handful of loyalist Space Marine chapters with rumoured to be successors of the venerable Salamanders. They believe that their gene seed leads directly back to Vulkan himself, and take great pride in this belief - although this has never been acknowledged by the Salamanders nor the High Priests of Terra. They are based from their homeworld of Odyssurne, a mostly oceanic Feral planet, and the only planet of the Odyssiette system, situated in Ultima Segmentum. From the sunken Fortress Monastery of Plato's Grave, they maintain an Imperial presence and patrol the nearby space, with the bulk of their efforts in and around the nearby Charadon Sector and Inferno Reach warp storm, in order to report and combat any emerging threats. Like their suspected founders, they are renowned for their devotion to humanity, but bear an affinity for lightning fast, multi directional attacks; often incorporating land, sky, and orbital based units simultaneously. History Formation The Scaled Sons came into existence during the 11th founding to reinforce an area of the Ultima Segmentum which was suffering regular incursions of Ork and Chaos threats, and the oceanic Feral world of Odyssurne was designated to be their homeworld. The Scaled Sons take their name and appearance from large sea serpents called Drakonis, that roam the waters of Odyssurne. Astartes Initiates are tasked with hunting and slaying one as part of their training. Chapter Recruitment The Scaled Sons look exclusively to the tribal peoples of their homeworld. Landmass on Odyssurne is sparse, and materials to construct flotillas are just as difficult to come across, and as such different tribes are in constant states of warfare against each other, usually with the aims to colonise the enemies islands. The tribes people are well used to this life of long sea journeys and combat onboard the cramped sailboats and busy islands, which makes them ideal recruits for the chapter. As most settlements have at least one Astartes elder, these Astartes will take note of potential recruits. These potentials get taken in as neophytes, and begin the training and transformation process much the same as any chapter. Part of their combat testing will have them hunt Drakonis. Chapter Organisation The Scaled Sons are a Codex-divergent chapter. The most noticable divergance from the Codex Astartes is the lack of a 10th Scout company - The other 9 companies instead have their own Scout troops, and any recruits who reach Scout rank are simply deployed straight into one of these squads. Whilst standard Codex designations are still used (with the exception of the above), company designation is shown via iconography on the right kneepad, instead of coloured shoulder trim. Chapter Combat Doctrine Planetside The Scaled Sons follow a combat doctrine that has proven effective over countless battles, especially against enemies who march rank and file, or move in swarms. Instead of attacking as a whole cohesive unit, attacks come from all directions and in all forms. A typical battle will have Assault bikes flanking to harass from the sides and back, land speeders strafing from any and all directions while marking anything of importance. Rhinos and Razorbacks can manoeuvre ground squads rapidly into position, both to face the enemy and outmanoeuvre them, whilst Tactical drop pod insertions can drop squads anywhere and everywhere. The aim of these tactics is both to break larger bodies of enemies into smaller and more manageable targets, and to confuse the rank and file and dissolve their structure, making them easier to deal with individually. Scouts are also well used, and all scout squads have Storm land speeders at their disposal, for ultra fast combat manoeuvres and effective hit-and-run style harassment attacks during large battles, as well as long range insertion and extraction for any clandestine operations. Ship to ship The Scaled Sons commonly fight forces encroaching from the nearby Charadon Sector and Inferno Reach warp storm, and as such are well versed in orbital and ship to ship combat. Boarding tactics typically have squads with jump-packs deploy from Thunderhawk dropships, who then gain entrance either by breaching with melta bombs, or through damage the vessels have already sustained. Once inside, the Astartes will purge the vessel of enemy combatants and then destroy it, either by means of overloading its power source, or allowing the Astartes fleet to scuttle the vessel. That said, it's not unheard of for Inquisitors of Ordo Hereticus to pay passing attention to captured Chaos vessels. Chapter Homeworld The Scaled Sons hail from the Oceanic planet Odyssurne, the only planet in the Odyss System. The system is within campaign distance of both the nearby warp storm Inferno Reach, and the Charadon Sector, both which the chapter regularly becomes entangled with. Geography Odyssurne is an ocean planet, with approximately 96% of its surface being water. Some areas of the ocean are shallow, and areas like these often host archipelagos and chains of small islands, and are generally considered safe by the native peoples, where they live on the islands, or in ships and flotillas that glide on the currents from sea to sea. However, large expanses of ocean are much, much deeper and are generally avoided. Whilst they offer great bounties of food, they are also host to the most fierce and dangerous sea creatures, amongst which the Drakonis are king. Fortress Monastery The Scaled Sons fortress-monastery, Plato's Grave, is built into and around an ancient Battle Barge of unknown origin, found sunken in a shallow area not far from a populated island cluster. After the vessel was pressurised and converted, the rest of the fortress-monastery was built around it. The monastery was build in all directions, both above the waterline and down beneath the seabed. Whilst many undeployed Astartes can be found here, many will also be found acting as elders within the various island and flotilla settlements on Odyssurne - usually the settlements they lived in before they became Astartes. Native Peoples The native tribal folk of Odyssurne are known as Odyssurnians, and whilst some live on the few islands, most live semi-nomadic lifestyles onboard ships and flotillas out at sea, moving wherever their food sources take them. There are multitudes of different tribes, some large, some small, some warring against others, and some just minding their own business. Recruits typically come from the larger and more aggressive tribes, as they produce more people who can be best shaped into Astartes. Odyssurnians are fairly primitive people, whose lives are dictated as much by superstition as they are fact - the Cult of Plato being a key element of this. However, their enviroments have made them both excellent navigators and superior swimmers. These skills naturally carry over to excellent zero-gravity awareness and mobility, and finely honed tracking instincts. Chapter Beliefs The Scaled Sons believe themselves to be, as some scholars do, descendants of the Salamanders chapter, and as such they strongly hold the ideals that each man and woman of the Imperium has their rightful place, and are willing to fight whomever they must to secure and protect any subjects of the Emperor. Philosophy In particular, the Scaled Sons have a good relationship with the Imperial Guard. Whilst many Astartes chapters only see the Imperial Guard for their weaknesses, or as a distraction or even shield for themselves, the Scaled Sons view guardsmen as both a key component of the Imperium, and a vital element of it's security. As such, they will always work alongside Imperial Guard regiments to ensure that their weaknesses are covered, and their strengths maximised, often finding that the sum of the two together exceeds the output of them individually. On their home planet of Odyssurne, they hold a strong affinity for their heritage and will often return to their birthplaces whilst not on active duty. Many of these Astartes have positions as elders or advisers within their villages, with even the oldest and most fearsome Astartes taking on these roles. This in turn helps to ensure a healthy flow of both prospective recruits for the chapter itself, as well as administrative and support staffing. The Cult of Plato The tribal peoples of Oydssurne all tell stories of a mighty hero of times long gone by. The tales don't mention much, but name him as Plato. Legend has it he was a full head taller than the tallest man, with bright shining armour, glowing eyes, and a voice that rumbled like thunder. Chapter scholars mostly agree that this figure may well be an Astartes, although why he was here and for what purpose, no records exist. Best judgement places the figure as an Astartes of the Great Crusade, more than 4000 terran years before the Scaled Sons we formed on Odyssurne. The tribes people treat Plato as a cornerstone of their legends and myths, telling tales of his mighty deeds and feats of bravery and strength. Whilst the Scaled Sons do not worship Plato's image, as the tribes do, they have a great deal of respect towards him and his legacy, and his name is often payed homage to - their Fortress Monastery being a prime example, named Plato's Grave. Chapter Gene-seed Due to the officially unknown origins of the Scaled Sons, the small oddities and idiosyncrasies of their gene-seed have no known reasoning or history to them. In all, there are no known corruptions and the gene-seed is thought to be stable. However, some small oddities have been observed - Astartes commonly have a darker skin tone, due to a flaw in their Melanochrome gene-seed organ. They also tend to be slightly heavier built and larger in size, like rumoured Salamanders Successors, the Storm Giants. However, they do lack other Salamander traits, such as black skin and glowing eyes. Why this is is unknown. Notable Scaled Sons *''Cyrano De'Berg'' - Current Chapter Master Chapter Fleet *''Drakonis' Might'' - Battle-barge and Flagship *''Lonely Horizon'' - Strike Cruiser *''Above the Ocean'' - Strike Cruiser *''Below the Waves'' - Strike Cruiser *''Crashing Tide'' - Strike Cruiser *''Jade Sunrise'' - Strike Cruiser * A number of support craft * A number of Thunderhawk dropships Chapter Relics *''Sword of Plato'' - A Powersword found in the Armoury of Platos' Grave upon discovery. Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours The Scaled Sons field Kabalite Green power armour, with Black shoulder plates and Copper trim. Iconography like helmet skulls and chest Aquilas are also copper plated. Interestingly, over time the copper on an Astartes power armour will start to show signs of verdigris - a natural bluish-green patina that forms as a result of atmospheric oxidation. As such, younger Astartes tend to have mostly clean copperwork, whereas that of older and more experienced Astartes will be more heavily encrusted. Iconography The large sea serpents known as Drakonis often make up imagery associated with the chapter too - power armour is often seen decorated with painted on scales, and some marines will wear tabards of actual scaled skin taken from Drakonis they have slain. Chapter Badge The chapter badge depicts a ''Drakonis ''wrapped around the blade and hilt of a downwards pointing sword. Category:Taint3 Category:Imperium Category:Salamanders Successors Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:11th Founding